This school is celebrating Canada 150 with 150 acts of kindness

The students and staff of Rockland Public School are celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary by helping their community in big and small ways.

"Canada is a great country to live in because people like them care enough to help others."

Canada 2017 · March 14, 2017

How are you marking 150 years of Confederation? Well, for Rockland Public School, it's through 150 acts of kindness. For the Sesquicentennial, the students and staff at this Eastern Ontario elementary school have been giving back to various communities in big and small ways — which we asked them to tell us about.

So far, they've raised money for a clean water initiative in Kenya, sung Christmas carols at a local retirement home, made Christmas cards for the Canadian Armed Forces and donated food, toiletries and clothes to homeless youth.

"What I wanted the kids to get out of the project is to understand that Canada is a great country to live in because people like them care enough to help others," says teacher Sylvain Lamirande.

The grade 5 and 6 students even got to present their good deeds to Gov. Gen. David Johnston earlier this year.

The 150 acts of kindness is one of 85 projects happening across the Upper Canada District School Board. The district-wide celebrations hope to give the students opportunities to share their thoughts on building a better Canada.

"The students have really embraced the project and have a good understanding of how even a small act of kindness can have a big impact," says Lamirande.